February 25/08 8:18 am - Festa Italiana at Forest City Velodrome

Posted by Editoress on 02/25/08

Press Release - London Forest City Velodrome

"Oh what a feeling" the B.T.O. lyric couldn't have said it any better after a superb night of track racing at the 138m indoor Forest City Velodrome in London, Ontario. The fund-raising event for the local Italian community was a huge success with a substantial amount of money being raised.

The racing was fast, clean and safe, as all racers were exceptionally courteous in front of one of the biggest crowds of the season. A huge thank you to the Americans who traveled from Rochester and Buffalo NY, to do battle with the FCV regulars. Ryan Nye, Todd Scheske and Mike Luther swept the podium during the featured race of the nigh,t the Italian Win & Out. All three riders had the "feeling" in the post race high fives and hand shakes on the infield.

In other racing action, The FCV invited 8 new women to the races for some experience and to show off some new talent the local coaches are working with. Local London racers Sarah Bonikowski, Nathalie Mouseau, Jessica Darling, Amberley Berman and 10 year old Devon Lowrie got some very valuable experience doing Flying Laps and short pursuit style of events to help them learn how to go fast on the Velodrome. We would also like to thank, Brianne Rupay (Peterborough), Carolyn Smith (Waterloo), Janel Bedard (Buffalo NY) for their efforts during the evenings events.

31 racers took times in an effort to make the top six for the Italian Sprint Tournament. Fast Qualifier and 16 year old Allan Leparskas (London) was 3/10's of a second faster than the number 2 man and advanced easily to the Semi-Finals, where he met up with the Willie master Lorne Falkenstein who went long in the 2 up semi. This strategy did not pay off as Lasparskas closed the gap and came over the top for a 1 bike length win. The other semi also came down to the final lap as another 16 year old Ryan Aitcheson (Kitchener now riding for Jet Fuel Coffee) had to battle over London's Scott Lundy down the short backstretch to advance to the Gold medal round.

The Final sprint was very interesting as both riders marked each other just like the Pro's. Leparskas pinned Aitcheson against the rail for the first 3 laps of the 5 lap affair. In a blink of an eye, Leparskas launched an attack that gaped Aitcheson, who had to settle for Silver. A fine effort by both Kids to put on a great show.

The Cadet and Junior ladies had 3 endurance events in a combined category to give all the riders more experience with a larger field of racers. Jason King (Oakville), Kyle Rupay (Peterborough), Daniel McKenzie-Picot (London) and Trevor Dickenson (St Catharines) changed the lead with 3 laps to go in every event to determine the final outcome. Krista Ruby (Caledon) and Ashley Barson (Bolton) split the final result in the Junior women's division. Preems were also on offer for the youngsters with everyone sharing in the merchandise prizes.

2 new Cadets raced this weekend, Kris Ovsenek and Drew Welsh (London) who just graduated from the Velo-Kids program to keep up nicely against older and more experienced competitors.

On the Elite side of the Festa Italiana race night, Ryan Crawford (London) took the win in 2 events (Miss & Out and the Scratch race) ahead of Enrico Triani (Toronto), Mike Renneboog (Brantford), and Garnett Abbey (Burlington). A total of 19 Elite riders came out to test their fitness in February.

The next event at the FCV is March Madison Madness on Friday night March 28th and Saturday night March 29th. Lots of regular races including women's, Cadets and Juniors. Look for $500 in prizes for this pre-Road season event.